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There's no time to rebuild around Dirk. If you're gonna rebuild, you have an all out firesale. Rebuilding around a 30 year old is d-u-m. Time stops for nobody.
Why Mark Cuban and The Dallas Mavericks Should Start to Rebuild
Taylor Smith / Bleacher Report
Dallas Mavericks' superstar forward Dirk Nowitzki has just about seen it all over the course of the last four seasons.
In 2006, he and his Mavs were finally able to get over the hump known as the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, only to blow a 2-0 series lead to the Miami Heat and lose in the Finals 4-2.
The next season, Dallas was an NBA-best 67-15.
Nowitzki won the NBA MVP award that season, and the Mavericks were the clear-cut favorite to finally win it all.
However, they ran into the buzz saw known as the Golden State Warriors, a team whose up-tempo style of play proved to be Dallas' kryptonite. Nowitzki and the Mavs were ousted from the first round in six games.
Nowitzki took tons of heat from both the fans and the media following that series, earning the label of a star player that just wasn't mentally strong enough to carry his team.
In the 2007-08 season, Dallas got caught up in the midseason trade frenzy, and ended up making the highly-controversial, highly-publicized Devin Harris-for-Jason Kidd swap.
Kidd struggled to adjust to head coach Avery Johnson's strict style of offensive coaching, and the Mavs squeaked into the playoffs with the No. 7 seed.
Dallas was quickly disposed of in the first round once again, this time by Chris Paul and his up-and-coming New Orleans Hornets.
Johnson was fired shortly thereafter and Rick Carlisle was chosen to be his successor.
After getting off to a slow start this season, there were whispers around Mavsland that owner Mark Cuban would try and blow up the team and rebuild it from scratch.
However, Carlisle eventually handed all on-court play-calling duties to Kidd, and the Mavericks started running and winning again.
Nowitzki has been enjoying an under-the-radar stellar season, averaging about 25 points and eight boards a game.
Unfortunately, it's been tough for the Mavericks to consistently beat teams over .500, and recent losses on the road to each of their in-state rivals appear to have worn on Nowitzki.
Not only did Dallas lose to San Antonio, but they lost by double-digits to a Spurs team playing without both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.
After the thrashing last night, Nowitzki was clearly not pleased.
"It's a gift that Duncan didn't play, and we didn't take it," he said. "It's a frustrating, disappointing loss. It was just an embarrassing effort."
For the third game in a row, Nowitzki visibly struggled, scoring just 14 points and was a lousy 5-for-15 from the floor.
Against the Rockets last Friday, Nowitzki mustered just nine points in a game that had him looking flustered and shaky.
Dallas blew a 16-point lead in that game, losing 93-86.
Over the course of those three games, Nowitzki has gone 15-for-46 from the floor, averaging about 11 points a game, with the Mavericks' only win coming over lowly Sacramento on Saturday night.
In a recent interview, Nowitzki discusses how he's been frustrated by lack of preparation in the past by certain teammates, as well as how it's become increasingly tough for the Mavericks to have enough firepower to compete with the teams currently at the top of the standings.
It's become quite clear that, although they're currently 10 games over .500 at 33-23, the Mavericks just don't have enough firepower to be able to compete in the end with teams such as the Lakers and Spurs in the West.
Dallas was rumored to be in the thick of trade negotiations with several clubs before the deadline, but nothing came to fruition and they ended up sticking with their current roster.
While they've certainly missed Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jason Terry lately due to his hand injury, it's unlikely that his return will be enough to vault them to the next level.
It recently came out that there would be mutual interest in the coming offseason for Dallas to re-sign Jason Kidd, whose contract expires after this season.
While Kidd is having a decent season, bringing him back at age 36 next season may not be a step in the right direction.
It seems as though the Mavericks may have blown their chance at winning a le three years ago, and although they still have a decent amount of talent, it would probably be a safer idea to blow the team up and start rebuilding.
The rebuilding process should undoubtedly begin with a decision on what to do with Nowitzki, who turns 31 this coming summer.
He has two years (with a player option for a third year) remaining on his current contract for $18 million per year and then going up to over $21 million, so he could be a tough piece to move.
They should probably try and keep Nowitzki to rebuild around him because, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of young, developing talent on their current roster.
Josh Howard, who has recently had several off-the-court incidents affect his image negatively, hasn't turned out to be the player Dallas thought they had when they signed him to a lucrative extension a couple of years ago.
Cuban and GM Donnie Nelson should look to trade parts like Howard and Terry while their value is still decently high, and try to take back a combination of young talent and/or draft picks.
While Brandon Bass and J.J. Barea appear to be nice, young players, they don't seem to be quite up to the caliber of players to build a winning franchise around.
Rick Carlisle is a solid coach and I think he would be the right man for the job.
While it's always hard to rebuild, I think it would be in the best interest of the Mavericks because they simply aren't going to be winning anything significant with the roster they have now.
Cuban came into Dallas several years ago and turned a perennial doormat into a perennial winner, so Mavs fans should be able to give him the benefit of the doubt, as well as the opportunity and time to try and rebuild this team from scratch.
There's no time to rebuild around Dirk. If you're gonna rebuild, you have an all out firesale. Rebuilding around a 30 year old is d-u-m. Time stops for nobody.
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I would give it another crack with the 2009 FA's, or if that doesnt work, you hope for a miracle with the 2010 group. By that time, Dirk would be 32 - probably the last chance they would be able to get something big in terms of young talent, picks and cap space.
Hes still a Franchise Guy IMO.
I think the Mavs are like the Suns: they had their chance to content for a le, but their time is up. They may not even be a playoff team any more.
The Mavs made the finals after fluking it against the spurs, although they lost to Miami. That was their chance right there.
They had another crack, but were outplayed by the run 'n gun Golden State Warriors that shut them down playing zone D.
Mavs need to start over again; trading Dirk could be step 1. The J-Kidd trade didn't work out anywhere near what they envisaged. Oh, and they should fire that Mark Cuban fool.
Too bad Devin Harris is gone!
Trading dirk for a 2nd rd pick would be addition by subtraction
As dumb as the Mavs organisation goes, no one trades Dirk for a 2nd rounder. Sorry that Marcus Camby got traded for almost nothing.
You're one dumb mother er, you know that? I don't know which Mav fan on the bored raped your mother, but if it was mavsfan1000 I'll help you kick his ass.
Dirk for Tmac + Landry,
Kidd and Howard for picks and youth to whoever
Mac sits all next year
Mavs tank and get #1 pick
Rockets win the west (Dallas gets revenge on SA via Houston)
Mavs reload 2010 with youth and big name free agent
I...err..everyone wins.
Josh: Revamp??? No way!!!!
The first thing they should have done is trade Josh Howard. But the fact that he is still on this roster b/c no one else in the league was willing to give a quality player for him (for good reason) tells you that Cuban and Donnie are still wasting everyone's times with this ty team.
But hey, they blew out the Bucks
Josh Howard in 2006 was a badass, and he still can be when he wants to. Check out tonight's line
http://www.nba.com/games/20090225/MILDAL/boxscore.html
27 points, 10-16 shooting, 7 boards, 5 steals, 3 blocks
I'm telling you guys, he's been pulling a VC wanting out of Toronto and tanking it ever since we traded away his best friend. I've played basketball all my life, seen my fair share of people pouting and been around it, I know that look. It's written all over his demeanor and body language that he just doesn't give a or try. Here lately he's had a bit of a spark it seems, and you see it in games like tonight. You can even take it a step further and check his statlines for the games Dirk is out, it might can be attributed to him wanting to be "the man."
please keep your mouth shut before you learn how to talk smoothly, we did understand what you wanted to talk about though. You just intent to point out some flaws of our team, thanks a bunch for doing so son.
besides what you wanted to tell us, we also got something that you don't want us to know. Though you tried your best to pretend like a normal man with decent dignity, but your words have already betrayed you... you are an unremarkable idiot.
I don't like the rockets team, but I don't hate those rockets fans either. instead, I feel extremely shameful for those rockets fans to stand on the same side with those moronic idiots like you.
please stop wasting your time, you should have spent the time thinking about why the other people around you are not idiots. I know it's meaningless to send my sincere suggestions to a chump, but I am always forced to do so.
I'm not sure what to make of you.
Sometimes when I read your posts, I'm like "damn, this kid doesn't have a chance. Maybe this is all he has going for him in life and I should just cut him a break."
But I mean...really?
I wouldn't even know how to begin to describe the way you communicate to people. It is like a mix of broken English, incoherrent babble and incomplete thoughts. Please please pleaseeee tell me this is your second language, or that you are in middle school or something.
If not, then I honestly feel sorry for you.
there are 453.6 million people claiming they are rockets fans, but 97.5% of them are idiots from a ty country, I'm afraid you're not included in the 2.5% son.
1800-580-0866 3pm-7pm Pacific time, it's the Tom Leykis show. www.blowmeuptom.com
If english was a second language for me, then english would be the fourth or fifth language for you.
You feel it so cool to speak 4 or 5 different languages, that you even ridicule those native speakers on their speakings. However, you'll never speak a foreign language as good as those native speakers do.
Personally I don't think the language barrier is a mountain that we can't leap over, language is the least efficient way people communicate with others, sometimes an eye-contact can deliver more information than hundreds of words. I don't want to admit it but I have to admit it that Our president isn't pretty good at speaking, but we still voted him as our president... We don't descriminate anyone by their skills in language or the colors of their skins, we evaluate people only by their capabilities. That's why the world's greatest country is the United States of America.
Last edited by Rogue; 02-26-2009 at 09:18 AM.
What the is Bleacher Report and how do they have Ernest Hemingway and his 1-sentence paragraphs?
The problems with Josh started before the mistake was made, though it did intensify after.
I agree that Josh wants to be the man. It's a classic case of Shawn Marion-itis. Insecurity, jealousy, selfishness.
i don't think cuban and donnie are capable of a rebuilding process.
I'm gonna be disappointed if J-Ho isn't gone in the offseason. I said that last year though.
Word around Dallas is Dirk would more than likely opt out after next season, then resign for a low amount and use that 10-15 million to go towards the 2010 FA race.
Why? Well he is NEVER gonna win anything with the troupe he's got now.
Why do you have to get personal? C'mon now - stick to your creed. Share your wonderful insight about the actual teams. No need to stoop to this level. You're better than this.
No, you're not. I'm sorry comprehension isn't as strong a suit for you and your limited use of the Spanish language.
Bruno is another guy. I'm Shank.
And we've learned over the years that only old, lonely losers resort to calling others "wittle dog", little kids or making "bedtime" or computer-usage remarks. You seem to fit right into this category.
KFC, mother er.
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